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June 16, 2019
Sen. Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been sworn in as the substantive governor of Imo after the Supreme Court declared him winner of the March 9, 2019 governorship election.
Uzodinma was sworn in on by the Imo Chief Judge, Justice Pascal Nnadi, with his team of over 30 judges from the state judiciary at exactly 7.25 pm after his Deputy, Prof. Placid Njoku who took his oath of office by 7:15 p.m.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the swearing-in ceremony took place at the Hero’s Square in Owerri on Wednesday. Nnadi while performing the swearing in said:
“In line with section 185 (2) and Section 187 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and with the powers vested on me by the constitution, I hereby swear in Sen. Hope Uzodinma as the sixth democratically elected governor of Imo state.”
INEC issues certificate of return to Hope Uzodinma as Imo governor
Uzodinma, in his inaugural speech, described his victory as `rare’ and a reminder that God is faithful and does not abandon those who trusted in him. He thanked the apex court for restoring the people’s confidence in the judiciary and the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, as well as the party’s central working committee for their efforts in ensuring that justice prevailed.
Source: https://www.thisdaylive.com/
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The Supreme Court has nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the People’s Democratic Party as the governor of Imo State.
The apex court declared Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the winner of the March 9 governorship election in the state. Mr Uzodinma originally came fourth in the election. The seven-member panel of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad gave the unanimous decision on Tuesday in Abuja.
Imo State Governor, Emeka Ihedioha (left), APC Governor Candidate?Incoming Governor, Hope Uzodinma (right)
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the apex court earlier on Tuesday dismissed the appeal of Uche Nwosu, the candidate of the Action Alliance in the election. Mr Nwosu, who came second in the election, withdrew his suit which led to its dismissal by the judges.
Mr Nwosu withdrew the suit because the Supreme Court had last December ruled, he was not a valid candidate for the election.
The election result
In the election held in March, Mr Ihedioha of the PDP was declared winner. He polled 273,404 ahead of his closest rival and candidate of the Action Alliance, Uche Nwosu, who polled a total of 190,364. Mr Nwosu is the son-in-law of the then governor, Rochas Okorocha, who strongly backed his candidacy.
The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Ifeanyi Ararume came third ahead of Mr Uzondima of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The former polled 114, 676 while the latter polled 96,458. The candidate of Accord and Mr Okorocha’s predecessor, Ikedi Ohakim, came distant fifth on the log with 6,846 votes.
Announcing the results of the election, the state’s returning officer and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Umundike, Abia State, Francis Atunta, gave the total registered voters across the state’s 27 local government areas as 2,221,008 and the total accredited voters as 823,743. He said a total of 25,130 votes were cancelled across the state with total valid votes as 714,355 while the total votes cast is 739,485. A total of 70 candidates representing various political parties took part in the election.
Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/
Iran's military says it "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, Iran's state TV reports.
The statement said it had done so due to "human error" after the plane flew close to a sensitive site belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Those responsible would be held accountable, the statement said.
Iran had previously rejected suggestions that one of its missiles brought down the plane near the capital, Tehran, on Wednesday.
But pressure mounted after the US and Canada, citing intelligence, said they believed Iran had shot down the plane with a missile, possibly accidently.
The downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 with the loss of 176 lives came just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two airbases housing US forces in Iraq.
The Ukrainian flight, which was headed to the Canadian city of Toronto via the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, came down near Imam Khomeini Airport shortly after take-off.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/
Donald Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed one of Iran’s most powerful generals and sent global markets reeling as the president said the military leader was plotting attacks on Americans.
“General Qassem Soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more...but got caught!” Trump tweeted Friday. “He should have been taken out many years ago!” he added.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said earlier Friday that the strike was in response to the threat of an “imminent attack.” He would not provide details about the threat other than to say it was confined to the Middle East and that U.S. intelligence justified the airstrike.
Aftermath of the drone strike that killed Iran's General Qasem Soleimani
Iran’s Supreme Leader quickly threatened “severe retaliation” in response. The U.S. State Department has issued a directive urging American citizens to leave Iraq immediately due to the tensions.
Oil futures in London and New York at one point surged by more than 4%, gold hit the highest in four months, 10-year Treasury yields headed for the biggest drop in three weeks and stocks and U.S. equity futures slid.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news
David Stern, the former commissioner of the National Basketball Association died Wednesday, the NBA said. He was 77.
Stern died from a brain hemorrhage he suffered several weeks ago, according to the NBA. Stern suffered the brain hemorrhage December 12 while dining in a Manhattan restaurant. Stern is survived by his wife, Dianne, and their two sons, Eric and Andrew.
Stern became the fourth commissioner of the NBA on February 1, 1984. He previously served as the NBA's general counsel from 1978 until 1980, and then as Executive Vice President of the NBA from 1980 until 1984. In 2012, Stern announced he would step down in February 2014, and tapped Adam Silver as his replacement. At the time of his retirement, Stern was the longest serving NBA commissioner, having held the position for exactly 30 years. After stepping down, Stern remained affiliated with the league with the title of commissioner emeritus, and has remained active in his other interests, such as sports technology.
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/
The State Security Service has released Sambo Dasuki. His lawyer, Raji Ahmed, told PREMIUM TIMES the former national security adviser was freed on Tuesday night.
Mr Dasuki’s freedom comes hours after the SSS released Omoyele Sowore, an activist who was arrested in August for organising a nationwide protest for good governance.
They were both released on the directive of Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, who prevailed on the SSS in a Tuesday morning statement to obey valid court orders and release them from illegal custody.
Mr Dasuki, a retired Nigerian Army colonel, was Nigeria’s national security adviser until May 2015. He was arrested a few months after leaving office on allegations of corruption and illegal arms possession. He denied any wrongdoing.
Even though the Federal High Court in Abuja where he was arraigned granted him bail more than once, the SSS failed to release him.
Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/
Anthony Joshua on Saturday night comprehensively defeated Andy Ruiz Jr 118-110, 118-110, 119-109 in their rematch to regain his IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA (super) heavyweight titles. It was a masterful performance from AJ in Saudi Arabia; the Nigerian-born British boxer schooled Ruiz from range and never allowed the Mexican-American to close the gap.
Joshua jabbed Ruiz Jr to death and he never gave the champion a chance to get inside and land the nasty hooks that led to AJ’s demise the first time around.
Anthony Joshua holding his IBF, WBA and WBO titles after defeating Andy Ruiz Jr
After the fight, both men showed their respect for one another and embraced before they did their post-fight interviews, according to talksport.com
When Joshua asked Ruiz if he wanted to retire following calls for AJ to do the same after he lost in New York, Ruiz answered that he wanted a third fight.
Grabbing the mic, he said, “I want the third fight.”
He then asked the crowd, “Who wants to see the third fight?”
In fact, Ruiz Jr asked the Saudi Arabia crowd several times if they would like to see a third fight between the two men and he seemed to want to do it in Saudi again, too. Joshua suggested he was well up for it too, declaring, “If you’ve heard, we’re gonna do a third.”
Andy Ruiz Jr bloody face after his defeat by Anthony Joshua
Source: http://saharareporters.com/
An estimated N675bn was paid in cash bribes to Nigerian public officials this year, according to a new survey by the National Bureau of Statistics and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The report, which was released on Friday said out of all Nigerians who had at least one contact with a public official in the 12 months prior to the 2019 survey, 30.2 per cent paid a bribe to, or were asked to pay a bribe by, a public official. “This means that, although still relatively high, the prevalence of bribery in Nigeria has undergone a moderate, yet statistically significant, decrease since 2016, when it stood at 32.3 per cent,” it added.
According to the survey, cash continues to be the dominant type of bribe. It said, “More than 93 per cent of all bribes paid in 2019 was paid in cash, a slightly larger share than in 2016. According to the 2019 survey, the average cash bribe paid is N5,754, a sum equivalent to roughly $52 in purchasing power parity.
“Overall, it is estimated that a total of roughly N675bn was paid in cash bribes to public officials in Nigeria in 2019, corresponding to 0.52 per cent of the entire Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria.”
According to the report, the economic cost of bribery becomes even more palpable when considering that, on average, bribe-payers pay an amount equivalent to six per cent of the average annual income of Nigerians.
Source: https://www.today.ng/
Nigerian authorities have detained journalist Omoyele Sowore a day after his bail was upheld by a high court.
Images on Friday show Mr Sowore pinned to the floor during scuffles with state security agents at a court hearing.
The former presidential candidate and founder of the news site Sahara Reporters was first detained in August after he called for revolution.
Despite being granted bail in October, authorities have continued to hold him, sparking an outcry from his supporters.
His co-defendant Olawale Bakare is also in the custody of state security services.
In videos shared by Sahara Reporters, several men attempted to drag Mr Sowore from an Abuja courtroom where he had been summoned for a hearing.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/
Rotimi Amaechi has announced a physical attack on him by some people he described as “misguided Nigerians.”
The Nigerian transport minister said he was on a climate change summit in Spain when some violent Nigerians charged at him.
He said the attackers were summarily restrained by the police in Madrid, leaving him unscathed.
“Some minutes ago, I was attacked by a few misguided Nigerians while on national assignment at a climate change event in Madrid, Spain,” Mr Amaechi said on Twitter Friday evening. “They were quickly repelled by the Spanish police before they could do any harm. I am fine. I was not hurt. Thanks for your support & prayers.”
Mr Amaechi has in the past used the Twitter account to share personal information as well as information on his activities as a minister. In October he shared pictures of he and his wife monitoring a government project.
It was not immediately clear which group was responsible for the coordinated harassment of the minister in Spain. His spokesperson, David Iyofor, did not immediately return requests for comments.
Source: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/